A petition to the Italian government (https://www NULL.openpetition NULL.eu/petition/online/cura-italia-relief-cant-forget-culture) launched in April by CEATL member Strade (http://www NULL.traduttoristrade NULL.it), together with the translators’ associations AITI (https://aiti NULL.org/) and ANITI (https://www NULL.aniti NULL.it/) and the illustrators’ association AI – Autori di Immagini (http://www NULL.autoridimmagini NULL.it/), has achieved landmark results. On 16 October, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced that five million euros of Covid-19 emergency funding will be allocated specifically to literary translators (https://www NULL.beniculturali NULL.it/comunicato/editoria-franceschini-5-milioni-di-euro-per-i-traduttori) who meet eligibility requirements, with individual grants of up to €3,000. The petition, which was signed by authors from around the world, urged the government not to overlook the creative professions that were left out of initial relief measures. This appeal and other lobbying efforts began to bear fruit in June, when literary translators were included among those eligible for one-time assistance to cultural workers who derive their income from copyright. The new decree, however, is specifically aimed at translators who work in the publishing industry, and marks the first formal recognition of that profession by the Italian government.
Protecting the rights of creators and artists vs generative AI: Joint letter to the European Parliament
13 international authors’, performers’ and other creative workers’ organisations sent this letter today to MEPS in the European Parliament’s JURI Committee ahead of the publication of their report “Copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges”.